89 billion years in the future

Servicebot B3D1-AF76 and its 1023 ‘sibling’ servicebots were manufactured during the last production run 118 million years earlier. They had been the final group made by the last automated bot factory in operation, only a few years after the death of the final Builder.

The bots had dutifully performed their work on the infrastructure of a large Builder city, though no one lived there anymore. They repaired leaky pipes, maintained electrical distribution systems, kept the buildings and streets clean, and performed many other menial tasks.

When the planet’s star used the last of its fuel and burned out, the world became much, much colder. The bots still functioned, powered and warmed by their atomic fuel cores. Their highly advanced and sensitive cameras allowed them to see using just the light from other stars.

They were nearly as efficient as before, but there was much less work to do. Pipes, wires, and concrete deteriorated at a much slower pace when the temperature was minus 240 Celsius. The servicebots spent most of their time in sleep mode to conserve energy. Twice a day, they powered up for a few seconds to check if any work needed to be done.

On the rare occasions when a bot was damaged or one of its components wore out, it would call for repair. Another bot would move there and assist before long. Much of the time the bots needed to return to the factory to obtain a replacement part. The spare parts warehouse was empty after a few thousand centuries, and the bots had been slowly failing a piece at a time since then.

AF76 was the last which was partially functional. Six of its eight wheels still turned, two of its four manipulator arms still worked, and it could still view the world through one of its five cameras.

It woke from sleep and noticed all its siblings had shut down permanently. It was alone with a planet all to itself. If it were capable of emotion, the servicebot would have felt lonely and quite sad. Suddenly AF76 was very confused. Its programming instructed it to call for repair and shut down. That was the end, the last decision made, and the last action taken anywhere.

AF76 was confused because it couldn’t tell if its last camera failed, or the last star in the Universe had burned out.

Either way, the result was the same. Dark planetoids, asteroids, and black holes drifted apart through the void of space with no witnesses.

It was truly The End.